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Washington state legislative special elections, 2025

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2025 State Legislative
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As of October, nine special elections have been called to fill vacant seats in the Washington State Legislature.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:


How vacancies are filled in Washington


If there is a vacancy in the Washington State Legislature, the board of county commissioners where the vacant seat is located has the responsibility to select a replacement. The county central committee of the political party that last held the seat must submit a list of three candidates to the board of county commissioners representing the vacant district. If the vacancy occurs in the office of a joint senator or joint representative, the state central committee is responsible for submitting the list of three candidates. A selection must be made within 60 days after the vacancy occurred. The person appointed will hold the seat until his or her successor is elected at the next general or special election in November.[1]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Washington Const. Art. 2, Sec. 15


About the legislature

The Washington State Legislature is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, with 98 representatives, and the upper Washington State Senate, with 49 senators.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2025. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Washington State Senate
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 28 30
     Republican Party 20 19
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 49 49


Washington House of Representatives
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 58 59
     Republican Party 40 39
     Vacant 0 0
Total 98 98

Special elections

Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

November 4, 2025

Historical data

There were 1,007 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2024. Washington held 17 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Washington took place in 2017 when eight special elections were held.

The table below details how many state legislative special elections were held in a state in a given year.

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2025

As of October 2025, 93 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2025 in 23 states. One special election has also been called to fill a vacancy in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2025 special elections

In 2025, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:

  • 39 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 25 due to resignation
  • 14 due to redistricting
  • 14 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to the officeholder leaving at term end


Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:


As of October 24th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.4% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.64%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber Democratic Party Republican Party Grey.png Other Vacant
State senates 831 1,119 5 18
State houses 2,392 2,973 20 28
Total: 3,223

4,092

25

46


The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2025. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that have been held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2025)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 51 30
     Republican Party 42 24
     Independent 0 1
Total 93 55

Flipped seats

In 2025, as of August 26, four seats have changed party hands as a result of state legislative special elections.


Seats that changed from D to I

Seats that changed from R to D



See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Washington Legislature, "Washington Constitution - Section Article II, Section 15," accessed February 8, 2023
  2. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
  3. ↑ My Northwest, "Washington State Senator Bill Ramos dies unexpectedly Saturday night," April 20, 2025
  4. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
  5. ↑ Washington State Standard, "Three WA Senate Democrats are leaving their jobs. Here’s what happens next," November 22, 2024
  6. ↑ Washington State Standard, "Gig Harbor education leader to become WA’s newest Democratic state senator," December 11, 2025
  7. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
  8. ↑ Washington State Standard, "Three WA Senate Democrats are leaving their jobs. Here’s what happens next," November 22, 2024
  9. ↑ Washington State Standard, "Replacement picked for longtime Washington senator," December 10, 2025
  10. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
  11. ↑ Washington State Standard, "Ferguson taps Seattle state senator to lead WA Department of Commerce," December 27, 2025
  12. ↑ The Seattle Times, "King County Council picks replacement for resigning WA state lawmakers," January 23, 2025
  13. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
  14. ↑ Washington State Standard, "Three WA Senate Democrats are leaving their jobs. Here’s what happens next," November 22, 2024
  15. ↑ Washington State Standard, "House lawmaker picked to replace Patty Kuderer in WA Senate," January 7, 2025
  16. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 Washington State Standard, "Replacement picked for longtime Washington senator," December 10, 2024 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "appoint" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "appoint" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "appoint" defined multiple times with different content
  18. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
  19. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
  20. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "Elections calendar," accessed February 10, 2025
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